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Arts Funding

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 February 2019

Thursday, 21 February 2019

Questions (24)

Richard Boyd Barrett

Question:

24. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the efforts she is making to address employment and training precarity and poverty among workers and performers in the arts sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8675/19]

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Written answers

Workers in every industry and sector are entitled to all existing legal protections.  These protections are equally applicable to people working in the arts and film the audiovisual industries.  Legislation which is the responsibility of my Cabinet colleague Regina Doherty T.D. Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection was passed last December which strengthens the protection of people working in all sectors in Ireland.

The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 is designed to improve the situation of insecurity and unpredictability of working hours for employees on insecure contracts and those working variable hours.

The new legislation requires that employers provide employees with certain terms of employment within a certain period after commencing employment.  It also imposes sanctions for certain offences; to further provide for a minimum payment due to employees in certain circumstances; to prohibit contracts specifying zero as the contract hours in certain circumstances and to provide for the introduction of banded contract hours; to further provide for prohibition of penalisation and for those purposes to amend the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 and the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997; to amend the Workplace Relations Act 2015; and to provide for related matters

Employment law in general should also have a role to play in terms of existing legal protections. The State has a range of institutional arrangements for reporting abuse of employment conditions. 

I am satisfied that the industry works in general to a high standard.

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